Beech's Downfall
by Jen Hatcliffe
Summary: "John, where are you going?" I ask, sitting up and watching him pull his clothes back on. Claire convinces John to let her go with him to meet his snout, but does that mean she can prevent him from being killed and still put Beech away? ON HOLD
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Beech's Downfall

**Author:** Sara (aka Storm)

**Rating:** PG-13

**Keywords:** Claire/John. Beech. Corruption.

**Summary:** "John, where are you going?" I ask, sitting up and watching him pull his clothes back on. Claire convinces John to let her go with him to meet the snout at the Cement Works, but does this mean she can prevent him from being killed and still put Beech away?

**Archive:** Anywhere else that wants it, just let me know first.

**Spoilers:** Set at the end of 'Find the Lady'.

**Disclaimer:** The Bill, and its characters don't belong to me. They never have and never will. I'm just playing with them for a bit. Can I please have John and Claire? They're not in the show anymore after all.

**Author's Notes:** I was reading through my first story 'Corruption' the other day in the hopes of improving it a bit, and it got me thinking of other possible scenarios for the Find the Lady Eps, so this is what I've come up with.

I've included Marion and a few other characters from The Trouble with Beech Saga in this cause I like the characters and I'm useless at making up names and then remembering them later. Marion's easy to write and adds a different side to Hodge's personality. Any other characters you don't recognise are my own creation. Please ask before borrowing them.

Written for Gem6, for not letting me forget how much I love John and Claire, and also for Claire (Dolphingirl29), I know your favourite pairing is Andrea and Neil now like me, but I do remember you saying something about John and Claire.

This story is loosely related to the Trouble with Beech Saga in places, but is in no way part of that series. All comments, questions and complaints in a review please. Pretty please?

Does anyone still read/write John/Claire fics? I'm curious now because they seem to have dried up, same for Andrea/Neil too. Anyone?

**Beech's Downfall**

**Chapter 1: Caught**

"John, where are you going?" I ask, sitting up and watching him pull his clothes back on.

"To see what this snout wants," he answers me.

"You know, I don't think it's a good idea going by yourself."

"I'm not going by myself, I'm meeting Don there, what's got into you today, I've never seen you like this?"

"I'm just worried John, I've had this feeling all day that something bad is gonna happen," I cover knowing I can't tell him the truth no matter how much I want to.

"Relax, everything's fine, I'll be back in an hour," he says giving me a quick kiss, before straightening himself up and walking towards the door.

"Let me come with you?" I plead as a last resort.

"Are you serious? You know he'll bolt if he gets a whiff of anyone else hanging around."

"Please John; no one will know I'm there. I'll stay out of sight, the only people who will know I'm there is you and me," I beg, dreading his answer.

"What aren't you telling me?" he asks turning around to face me.

"I wish I could tell you John, I really do, but …"

"Alright," he says cutting me off, "you can come on the condition that you stay out of sight and don't interfere; deal?"

I jump up and quickly throw my clothes on, "Deal," I say, knowing that if he'd said no, I'd have followed him anyway.

"And your explaining what the big deal is when we get back," he adds, digging for more information.

I nod in confirmation before we both head out the door to the meeting place.

Within fifteen minutes we reach the place they had agreed to meet, an abandoned builders yard behind some factories. I nod in silent understanding, assuring him that I will stay over here out of sight until he gets back. He pulls me to him for a kiss before disappearing around the corner, behind the heaps of builder's sand.

I poke my head around the corner enough to see what's going on.

"Where's Steadman?" I hear John ask Don.

"He's not coming!" Don states, instantly gaining my full attention.

I'm almost scared to know where this is going now, especially after what Hodges told me at our meeting this morning.

"I called you because I need to speak to you," Don says when I tune back into the conversation.

"We work together Don; you can always speak to me at work you know."

I quickly set up the special function on my phone to record this conversation; this is something that Hodges is definitely going to want to hear.

"I'm in a great deal of trouble John," Beech whines to try and get John's sympathy.

"What kind of trouble?"

"I've been running Howard Fallon as an informant, unofficial, favours for information, but he's got me banged to rights for fixing the evidence on that creep Askew, if you don't help me John I'm finished. In the job and on the outside for that matter, so what do ya say John? Will you help me?"

"So what are you asking me to do here Don? You want me to give you the location of Lynnette, a woman who trusts me, so you can hand her over to Fallon and he can finish the job, is that what you're saying?"

A nod of his head is the confirmation that John needs to continue the conversation.

"You've gotta be joking right? No way Don, you're on your own this time."

"Oh come on John please, I'm putting my life in your hands here," Don begs.

"No way," says John, starting to walk in my direction.

Don jumps in front of him to try and stop him from leaving. "You're not leaving John, not like this."

"Get out of the way Don," says John trying to push past him, "get out of the way," he repeats when Don refuses to move.

Don Head butts him in the face and as John stands up I see blood pouring out of his nose. I take that as my cue to intervene. I step out from my hiding place and walk slowly towards them.

"Don Beech," I call out announcing my presence and startling them both.

They both spin round to face me. I ignore the looks they are giving me and quickly step behind Don putting him into an arm lock. "Don Beech, I'm arresting you for corruption," I say, whilst securing the cuffs "you do not have to say anything when questioned, something which you later rely on in court, and anything you do say may be given in evidence."

I drag him over to some metal steps to the left of our position and chain him to them so I can call for assistance.

"What in the hell are you doing Claire?" John asks me, confused.

"I didn't want to do this, John, really I didn't, but I've got no choice, it's out of my hands now," I explain as I pull my mobile from my pocket and dial the now familiar number.

"What are you talking about? What's going on? Who are you calling?" John questions as I wait for my call to be put through.

"I can't explain right now, but as soon as I can I will," I promise him before answering the phone.

"What's going on Claire?" asks the voice on the other side of the line.

"Just get to the office as soon as you can, your gonna love this," I say before hanging up and dialling another number, but then cancelling it before allowing it to ring.

"John? Go get your car, hurry," I say, "I don't wanna involve anyone that I don't have to in this," I add.

"Ok, back in a sec," he says running off to fetch the car.

He returns a few minutes later and I untie Don from the stairs before pushing him into the back of the car and jumping in beside him.

"Where are we going?" John asks me.

"Just head towards the river," I say, "then take a left turn down the old Fordhouse road," I add, giving him the directions to the CIB office.

20 minutes later we pull up outside the new CIB offices, and we all get out of the car. I lead the way into the building, easily bypassing the security lock on the front door. We wind our way through the maze of corridors until we come to a big open plan office area. I head straight to the office in the far corner and knock on the door.

"Come in," says the person I was talking to on the phone earlier.

I step into the office bringing Don with me, leaving John hovering nearby.

"What's all this about Claire?" asks Hodges, "and what's he doing here?"

"I arrested him Gov," I answer, jangling the handcuffs together, so they can be heard.

"I guessed that much but why?"

"You need to hear this," I state pulling my phone from my pocket and setting it up to play the recording of the conversation I witnessed tonight.

"Interesting?" Hodges says when the recording has finished, "What do you have to say for yourself Don?" he asks.

Don's face as gone a white as a sheet and he's looking nervously at his feet. "There's not a lot I can say is there?"

"Right, I'll take it from here Claire, go home and get some rest, you've done enough for tonight," Hodges says to me taking Don out of my hands and leading him off down another corridor.

I watch them leave, and then turn around to face John. I see him hovering near the desks, looking lost and confused. I let out a sigh I didn't know I was holding then head towards him. "John, lets get out of here," I say to focus his attention on me.

"I don't understand? Who was that? Where have they gone? What's going on Claire?" he asks me.

I don't know how to answer him, so I direct him back out to the car. "Lets go and get something to drink and get your nose checked and then I'll explain everything," I say.

I jump into the driver's side, knowing he's in no fit state to drive. We pull out onto the road in silence.

We arrive back at John's flat about 40 minutes later and I head straight to the kitchen to get the first aid kit. I pick it up out of the cupboard, and then grab a bottle of whiskey and two glasses before heading into the bedroom to find John. I notice the light on in the bathroom and assume he must be in there. I place the glasses and bottle of whiskey on the dresser and then with the First aid kit still in my hands, I walk into the bathroom. "Let me have a look at your nose then John," I say, dropping the kit on the closed toilet seat and walking up behind him.

I reach my arms around his waist and turn him to face me. "It looks worse than it is," he says.

I grab the first aid kit and pull an alcohol cleaning swab from it. I use the wipe to clean the area around John's nose so I can see the full extent of the damage. After discarding the swab, I rub some disinfectant cream over the area to help the healing process. When that's done, I lead him back to the bedroom and encourage him to sit on the bed whist I tidy up.

When I've put everything back in its proper place, I sink down beside him, lying back and resting my head back on the pillow.

I roll onto my side to face him before saying, "if you still want to know everything, I'll tell you, but I've gotta warn you; you won't like it."

"I need to know," he says lying down next to me and playing with the ends of my hair.

"Ok, I was sent to Sun Hill to find evidence of corruption and to see how far it had spread. Then everything changed when I started falling for you. The biggest rule of undercover work is to stay detached, but … it's impossible when you start falling for one of the suspects. I mean don't get me wrong, I know you're not involved or anything, but everyone's a suspect till proven otherwise."

"What about tonight?" John asks, moving the conversation along.

"Remember this morning when I was a little late?" I ask.

"Yeah, you said you had to visit your mother or something, I don't understand!"

"That's just a code. My mom died a few years ago. To avoid any difficult questions, anything related to the case is referred to as 'your mother'."

"So where did you go then?"

"You know that man who just walked off with Beech, his name is Detective Superintendent Hodges, CIB. He's my boss John."

I allow the information to sink in before I say anything else.

"But … then that means… your CIB?"

"Yes," I nod, "I can understand that you're probably really mad right now, but you can understand why I couldn't tell you before, yes?"

"I understand, I'm just … shocked, I mean how? Who? What's gonna happen now?"

"I don't know John, I really don't know. My orders were to find evidence to prove that Beech really is corrupt and to establish whether anyone else is involved. I've done that now, so even I don't know what to expect next."

"Where does that leave us?"

"That's up to you, I don't want us to change but I'll understand if you can't do this anymore," I say with a teary smile.

"I don't want to lose you," John says, wiping the tears from my eye's, "I love you and nothing will ever change that, but things are gonna be different now. I …"

"I love you too John, lets just take each day as it comes and see where it leads us."

"I can do that," he says, pulling me to him for a kiss.

We exchange kisses for a long time, until we both part gasping for breath. It's in that moment that I realise; this is where I want to be.

* * *

I was gonna wait till i've finished writing it before posting the first chapter, but I can't be bothered. I've got another 2 chapters partially written but after that you might have to wait for more.

Please send any questions, comments etc. my way. I need to know what you think and if anyone's even reading this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Investigation**

The next morning I wake up in John's arms and smile when I see his face hovering above mine, watching me. I lift my head up off the pillow to meet him for a kiss before rolling closer to him so I can feel his arms running along my skin. It's a good 15 minutes with us just sharing languid kisses before we get up and head for a shower.

We make our way to work in John's car over an hour later, knowing we are gonna be late, no matter how much we rush. I just hope we don't have to give a reason for our lateness.

"Morning, what happened to you serge?" asks Kerry motioning to John's nose, when we walk into CID side by side.

"Don't ask," I say before heading to my desk.

There's no point in doing anything out of the ordinary. We don't need to make anyone suspicious. They're gonna have enough to deal with when CIB get here, which I've no doubt that they will be here sometime today. It's part of the investigation to question everyone who knew the suspect.

John steps in front of me and silently places a cup of coffee on my desk. "Thanks," I say, taking a sip of the warm fluid, and enjoying the sensation of it travelling down my throat.

He perches on the edge of my desk and whispers in my ear, "Do you think they'll come today?"

"I would imagine so, it's not like them to screw up," I reply knowing who the **THEY** are.

I look towards the door of the main office when I see it move out of the corner of my eye. Standing near the doorway is a woman I recognise from around the CIB offices, but don't really know, talking to DCI Meadows.

They step into the CID office and Meadows calls out, "John, Claire, can I have a word in my office?"

John stands up and I follow him towards the DCI's office, wondering what's going on.

Inside we are offered seats and we sit in anxious silence. DCI Meadows leaves the room leaving us alone with the woman he was talking to.

"Hi, I'm DCI Marion Ray, CIB code nine," she greets, "I don't think we've met yet."

We each take it in turns to shake hands with her before I ask, "What's this about?"

"You know how the system works, whenever a potential suspect is arrested, any known associates have to be questioned as soon as possible, to prevent a leak of information."

"I know that much, but isn't it usually kept within departments?"

"Usually yes, but this case is different, it's been shared between department codes three and nine since the beginning, due to some suspected but unfounded connections with another case."

"In English?"

"Basically Hodges and I have run the Beech case concurrently with an investigation into some Area Drug Squad officers. We suspected very early on that there may be some links between the two cases, but with nothing confirmed, we still needed to keep them separate and just have regular meetings to share any information that's been gathered. I'm here today to question anybody who knew Don Beech, and considering he's based here, I figured this would be the best place to start. I pulled you two out first because I know you're part of the investigation team, or in the very least, know about it," she adds, nodding in John's direction, "So as not to raise anyone's suspicions, I needed to inform you what's happening, and get you out of the way first."

She takes a minute or two to allow the information to sink in before continuing, "John is it?" she asks John, "I know your very confused right now, so I want you to stay with Claire here until further notice, she'll take you to the main office we're based at, where you will be questioned and then may be asked to help with some basic errands. Claire, Hodges has been informed of everything and is waiting for you both back at base. One of my officers DS Whitehouse is waiting with a car for you outside. I've got no choice but to suspend the whole of Sun Hill CID pending investigation, so unfortunately I can't allow you to go back in and get your things. I will get them to you as soon as I can though. Are we clear now?"

"I think so," I answer looking at John to gauge his response.

"I've still got a few questions, but I think Claire might be able to answer them," John says.

"Anything you're not sure of, find me later," DCI Ray says before walking with us down to the car park, where like she said, DS Whitehouse is waiting for us.

We are formally introduced before we get into the car and start the journey towards the CIB office buildings in silence.

When we pull into the same car park we parked in last night, Detective Superintendent Hodges comes out to meet us. "Thanks Gary, you can head back now," he says to DS Whitehouse, dismissing him.

John and I follow Hodges through to his office, the same one I found him in last night. "You never said anything about working with department nine," I say as soon as we are all in the office.

"I didn't see the need to, you were doing fine without knowing, and I didn't want to put anymore pressure on you than was necessary. Anyway, that's beside the point, I need to know what happened last night that led up to you arresting Beech and getting that recording."

"There's not really much to tell, I dropped by John's house on my way home to compare notes on a case, and anyway, while I was there, he got a phone call from Beech. Something to do with a snout having some information for them or something. I said something about going along encase some information relevant to the case popped up, and agreed to wait in the car so as not to scare the snout away. To cut a long story short, the snout never showed and when I realised it was a set up, I used my phone to record the conversation encase anything interesting or relevant to the case was mentioned, and you know the rest," I explain, not telling him the real reason for my visit to John's last night. Some things are better left unsaid.

"From there, you went in and arrested Beech, then bought him straight here I assume?"

"Exactly."

"OK, I'm a little wary of why John agreed to let you go with him to this meeting, but that's irrelevant at the moment. What's important now is to get written, taped interviews from both of you then we'll go from there. Everyone else from Sun Hill is being questioned as we speak, so if you've got nothing else to do after being interviewed you can run the Area Drugs side of the investigation until department nine can get back to it."

"Gov, I've got a question, why is department nine doing the Sun Hill interviews and not someone from our department?"

"Both Roper and Smith are on holiday, leaving us short handed at the moment. Chris and Jed are on that investigation at Stafford Row, and Nick and Allison are too inexperienced for this case. I can't interview them on my own, and you can't do it, due to being so close to the investigation, so who else can?"

"What about Jerry?"

"He called in sick this morning; don't worry, I know department nine can handle this one, I've worked with them before a few years back."

"What's department nine and three and whatever mean?" asks John.

"CIB works on a similar scale to Sun Hill, The different department numbers simply specify what area they specialise in. Department three, mainly deals with long term undercover investigations, where as department nine is more publicly recognised, they're the ones who go in and question the suspects, a bit like the difference between CID and uniform. Each geographical region also has its own team, that way, people up in the Birmingham offices, deal with cases up there and we don't have to go travelling round the country. Each region also has its own regional manager, for the London area, the manager is Commander Patrick Ford. You might have heard of him," I explain.

John nods his head, indicating that he gets it now.

"Ok," butts in Hodges, "now we're all clear on the department codes, let's get these interviews done."

We both follow him down the corridor to an interview room where the conversation can be recorded.

Several hours later, both me and John have done our interviews and are looking over the case files to the Drug Squad investigation. Most of the other staff are out on enquiries so we sit in the virtually silent office concentrating on finding links and leads on the case.

"What about this?" says John, pointing to a picture of one of the suspects sharing a drink in a pub with Don Beech.

"Is that the Canley Swan?" I ask noticing the décor of the pub walls in the photo.

"It looks like it, doesn't it?"

"What's the description say?"

"There isn't one, but the date is last Wednesday."

"We'll have to be sure to point that out when they get back then."

"Claire can I ask you something?"

"I guess."

"That woman we spoke to in DCI Meadows office, I saw her talking to that Hodges bloke earlier when I went to the toilet, and I don't know why it stuck out, but they seemed rather friendly if you know what I mean."

I choke on my laughter. "Close, to Hodges? That's a laugh; I don't think he knows the meaning of close. I can barely tolerate him some days and I've been working with him for 5 years, so I somehow doubt someone who's only been here 18 months, can get close enough to have a non-work related civil conversation from him. Though I would pay to see it."

"I'm not joking, I overheard them saying something about a pub on Saturday and then laughing at something; and if she's only been here 18 months how come she's a DCI?"

"I'm not sure, but I heard she transferred down from Manchester, where she was head of a department."

"That makes sense I guess."

"So did you find anything useful?" asks a voice from behind us.

We both whip round to see the person we were just talking about.

"I'm assuming you must have been waiting for me to show up being as I heard you talking about me."

"How much did you hear?" I ask embarrassed at being caught gossiping.

"Not a lot, Just what you heard about me transferring down here; so…?"

"We found a photo taken last week at a pub," I explain showing her the photo.

"So there is a connection to Beech then? I knew it. Great work," congratulates DCI Ray, "Oh, and to put an end to the rumours, I've been working here for twelve years now, the bit about me transferring from Manchester is rubbish, but it was a force fed lie; I was working undercover up there, until 18 months ago, and you wouldn't have recognised me because I was up there for over five years, most people who are here now, were only just out of school back then."

"Thanks for clearing that up for us," I say mentally calculating the dates to see if she would have met Hodges before then.

"So are you planning on staying here all night or are you joining the rest of us down the pub?" she asks breaking my concentration.

"I guess," I say getting up, John following my lead.

All three of us head downstairs, towards the car park.

"Carry on, I'll catch you up," says DCI Ray, "I just wanna drop these files off first," she adds, holding up a manila folder.

She walks off heading in the direction of Hodges office.

"See what I mean?" says John when we're outside.

"I never said he was evil, I just said I've only seen him have work related conversations with people without pissing someone off."

He lets out a snort of laughter before we gather with the other CIB officers by the gate.

20 minutes later we are all seated in a corner booth of the CIB divisions' favourite pub. To see two departments drinking together is something that doesn't happen often and I'm not gonna miss it for the world.

"So you managed to get through all the interviews then?" Hodges asks DCI Ray.

"Yep, nothing major came out of them, so I was thinking give it a couple of days to process everything, then …."

"I'll leave it in your hands then. One less pile of paperwork to get through."

"So kind of you Ste," jokes DCI Ray, using Hodges first name; that's something I haven't heard in a while.

"No problem," he laughs along with her.

I'm beginning to wonder if John may be onto something, with our earlier conversation about them being on **CLOSE** terms. I've certainly never heard anything like this before and looking at the faces of some of the others, they're surprised too. Based on my earlier calculations, it is possible for them to have met before she transferred to Manchester for that undercover op, so going on that assumption … erm. I think a little digging is in order here.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" I say, directing it at Hodges and DCI Ray.

"You can ask, but I'm not promising I can answer it," replies Hodges.

"How long have you known each other because I've never heard anyone call you by your first name before, well not without you yelling at them over it?"

"Ages," replies DCI Ray, "We both joined the force at about the same time, and I guess over time we just lost the formalities, besides, we started at the same level so it's only like you calling John or someone else you work with by their first name. No big deal."

"That explains a few things," I mumble.

With that the topic of conversation moves to something else. We all sit chatting comfortably, drinking and just simply relaxing.

At closing time we all slowly go our separate ways and head home. Before John and I can leave, Hodges stops us, "be careful you two, words probably got round by now about Beech being arrested, so don't get upsetting anyone if you know what I mean."

"No problem," I answer, before walking outside and turning in the direction of home, or in this case, John's flat, "See you tomorrow Gov."

When we get back I crawl into bed, exhausted from the long day. It's only a few minutes before John crawls in beside me and together we drift into a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Office Relations**

The next morning, when I wake up John is nowhere to be seen. I sit up, frantically searching for him. Just as I am about to get out of bed to look for him, he walks in the door with breakfast.

"Don't scare me like that," I say with a sigh, "I thought something had happened to you."

He slides up next to me and runs kisses along my collar bone, before pulling me towards him for a proper kiss.

"Mmm," I mumble enjoying the sensation of his lips on mine.

He pushes me back against the bed and deepens the kiss; using his hands to explore my body. I let out a moan of enjoyment, encouraging him to take things further. He responds without hesitation, kissing his way down my body and back up towards my mouth, lingering at my breasts. I return the attention, and soon we are rolling in the sheets, reaffirming our love for each other.

At the CIB office building later in the day, I am walking down the corridor to the toilet when I spot something out of the corner of my eye. I stop in my tracks and watch as the scene unfolds in front of me.

"So did he say anything about last week?" Hodges says to DCI Ray.

"No, well nothing direct anyway, although I think he knows something, or in the very least suspects."

"So what do we do?"

"Nothing, just wait and see what happens, play it cool, it'll all blow over in a couple of days, it always does."

"Someone's gonna find out sooner or later you know, and then what's gonna happen?"

She steps closer to him, placing a hand on his left shoulder, "Ste, relax, no one knows anything and no ones gonna find out. We've just got to be extra careful for a few days that's all. Wait till things have settled down a bit. Tensions are high with this latest case so people are bound to be a little curious, nosy even. It doesn't have to change anything if we're careful. So you still on for Saturday?"

"Isn't that just asking for trouble, a sign on the notice board would be less obvious?"

"Ste, nobody but you reads the notice board."

"I know," he sighs, "Alright, but not the normal place, too much of a risk at the moment."

"I knew I could count on you," she says, before standing on tip toes and placing a quick peck to his cheek.

"And quit doing that before you give someone the wrong idea," he says with a discreet wink, heading back to his office.

I wait for them to both disappear before entering the ladies toilets; this is something I'll have to tell John later.

I exit the stall and turn the tap on to wash my hands when the door opens and someone else enters the room. "How's the investigation going?" asks DCI Ray.

"Good," I reply, trying not to let on that I was eavesdropping a few minutes ago, "So what's happening Saturday?" I can't resist asking.

She spins round to face me so fast that she almost falls over. "How did you know about Saturday?" she asks me seriously shocked.

"John said he overheard you talking to someone about a pub on Saturday night, I wondered what the occasion was."

"There's no occasion, I just mentioned something about going for a drink on Saturday to catch up on the latest details of the case, it's no biggie."

I struggle to hide a small humourless laugh, who does she think she's fooling? From the conversation I just witnessed, I'm almost certain it's more of a social meeting than a work based one.

"Ok," I say, going to find John.

If she wants to hide something then I'm not going to interfere, it's not like I'm not doing a similar thing after all; my relationship with John can hardly be called professional. It's well known that it's strictly against the rules to fraternize with a colleague. So why no ones pulled me up about it yet I'll never know. I'll bet the first thing she'll do when she's finished in the ladies room is alert Hodges. Maybe I'll go over there now and bring him up to speed with the case, just for the fun of it.

"Hey Claire, What are you thinking about?" asks John walking up beside me.

"Nothing much, just a conversation I overheard, you know what you was saying about DCI Ray yesterday, I can see why you made that assumption. How I haven't noticed it before though, I don't know."

We continue walking, discussing what we've both heard and fitting the puzzle pieces together. Maybe we've accidentally stumbled upon a secret friendship or relationship between our bosses.

Later in the day I am surprised when Hodges calls out to me, "Claire have you got a minute?" he asks me.

"Sure," I say following him to his office, wondering what this is about.

"I want to ask you something about John, and I want total honesty."

"Ok," I reply, my curiosity piqued.

"I've been asked for my thoughts on Sun Hill CID, and whether or not they should be reinstated, transferred or otherwise. I've made my judgements on most people, but there are some people I'm not sure about and I was hoping you could give me a bit of background info. John Boulton is a one of the people I'm struggling with."

"I don't know how I can help, at least not without being slightly bias."

"It's bias I'm looking for. I've seen how he works these past couple of days, and I've also read his file, but they don't match up. It's like looking at two totally different people. I was hoping you could clear up some of the mystery for me."

"Well from working with him and everyone else at Sun Hill these past 18 months, I can see what you're getting at. From looking at his file you'll notice he's been sailing pretty close to the wind in the past, but there's nothing at all since I started there. From what I can gather, I'd say he may push a few limits to solve a case, but I don't think he'd cross the line to the other side; and I think the past couple of days prove that. He thought of Beech as a close friend until the events of the other night, when he found out about Beech's … extra curricular activities, shall we say … he's been very co operative in helping to make Beech pay for his crimes. I don't know if any of that has anything to do with my presence, I'll admit we have been pretty close these past few days, but I do know that I'd trust him with my life."

"Thanks for clearing that up for me. I know I've been hard on you about how close you were getting to this investigation and certain people in particular; I just wanted to ensure you didn't get too close that you would lose your perspective on it. It's hard to spot these things when your on the inside, it just happens without you realising, I've been through it enough times myself, that's why it's important for someone on the outside to closely monitor what's happening and to make sure things run smoothly."

"Gov?"

"You're a good officer Claire, a good detective. You've proved that on this case, and I'm proud to have you on my team, I know things haven't always been easy, and I know we don't get along most of the time, it's nothing personal, it's just the way I am. You've done well to put up with me for so long, which is why I'm gonna let you take over the running of the Area Drugs side of this case."

"Won't DCI Ray be a bit mad at that?"

"Who? Marion? No. She knows as well as I do that you're the best person for this case and besides, she's got millions of other cases to work on, so it's not a problem. I do want to be kept updated on your progress though, I'm sure she'll want to know how it's going too, and I can't offer you many people to help I'm afraid. "

"That's alright; it'll be a bit of a pain explaining things twice but other than that, not a problem."

"I don't think you'll have a problem with that, we can set up regular meetings; say about once a week, so you can explain everything to us both at once. Any other questions before I let you get on with it?"

"Yeah, you said something about not having many people to help …?"

"Right, as you know, we're short staffed so we're all snowed under at the moment, meaning I can't assign anyone strictly to the case, but if you can convince Boulton to stay around for a bit, then at least you'll have someone to bounce idea's off, and it might be better for him to avoid Sun Hill until things have calmed down a bit. Marion's kindly agreed to let you borrow DS Whitehouse if you need an extra pair of hands but he's working on another case as well so …, Jed and Chris should be able to help out now and again, but like I said earlier they're snowed under too so won't be available full time. If you're really struggling come and find me, and I'll see what I can do, but don't hold your hopes up."

"Sure Gov, no problem," I say, before preparing to open the door and make my way back to the main office area.

"Let me know how you get on with convincing Boulton so I can inform Meadows of what's happening tomorrow."

"Sure thing," I say as I make my way to my desk in the corner, where John is sitting chatting with Jed about something.

I approach them and lay a hand on John's shoulder to draw his attention away from the conversation without seeming rude by interrupting. "Can I have a word?" I ask when his eyes are focused on me, "Not here," I add indicating for him to follow me into a nearby office.

"What's going on Claire?" he asks me, when the door is shut behind me.

"I need to ask you something, and I need you to think very carefully about it. This is a big decision?"

"Ok," he nods.

"I've just had a meeting with Hodges and to cut a long story short, he wants me to run the Area Drugs Squad investigation."

"The one we were leafing through earlier?"

"Yeah."

"What's this got to do with me?"

"I want you to run it with me. Don't interrupt," I add quickly, "all departments in this building are snowed under with investigations, staffing shortages are not helping matters either, so basically, I'm running the case totally on my own. We discussed it and he said that, if you're ok with it, you can stay and help. It means it may be a few months before you can go back to Sun Hill, but with the way things are at the moment that may be a good thing. You're bound to be greeted with questions when you do return, so, I think delaying them as long as possible is your best bet. Ultimately it's your decision, either way I can cover you. So what do you say?"

"I don't know what to say, I never saw this day coming so…? What do you think?"

"If you'd worried about me, don't, this doesn't change anything on a personal level unless you want it too. Whether we work together or not, we can still be friends or … whatever we are, this is purely a work related arrangement."

"I want to help, but I'm not sure I can, I mean aren't I too closely involved with all of this?"

"Technically yes, but under the circumstances …, anyone who's seen you over the past couple of days can tell you're a good detective, even in these extreme conditions, you pull through, and still do a brilliant job, I know this is gonna sound really weird, but without you, I don't think I'd have found anything on Beech. He trusted you and that allowed me to get close enough to unravel the pieces. I didn't plan any of it of course, so don't get the wrong idea here, it just came out of nowhere, which is why I was so worried when Beech found out about us. If he found out about us then what was stopping him from finding out about me, and possibly using you as a weapon against me. Do you understand what I'm getting at here and why I couldn't tell you anything before?"

"Yeah, it's all starting to make sense now, you didn't tell me to protect me, and yet I still led you right to the evidence without even realising I was doing it. All in all it was down to the both of us that Beech got himself caught and now this… I want to help, especially if this DS Garrard and DI Tasker are involved in Beech's dodgy dealings, but if they know who I am, isn't it a big risk factor."

"Yeah, but it could also work to our advantage, what's the betting that they don't know about Beech being arrested yet? If we play our cards right, we could get them to confess without too much digging. So are you in or not?"

"Yeah I'm in. I want to see this tied up properly."

We head back out to the main office to round up DS Whitehouse, Jed and Chris for the planning stages. They may be taking a back seat on this one, but they still need to be informed on what's happening.

We all gather around one of the white boards in one of the meeting rooms, to discuss tactics and set up a plan for tomorrow. We each take it in turns to put our ideas forward, and share what we know. Anything that I deem important, I write on the board, for later discussion. When we've each had our turn, we focus on the main points raised and what we can do with them. After setting up a firm plan, we all head home, so we can return refreshed and ready to continue in the morning.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Saturday Night**

The next few days pass quickly with us working to find the evidence to convict Beech's associates. We leave no stone unturned in our search, and often end up upsetting the wrong people.

We are sitting in the meeting room, working through some details when DCI Ray approaches us to see how things are going. Some of the others scatter when she comes in, knowing that she's got a temper worse than Hodges when, she's upset over something. She walks directly over to me and leans down close to my ear so she can say what she's got to say without disturbing anyone else.

"I've been thinking and seeing how you already know about Saturday, why don't you and John come along. You can fill me in on the latest case developments then, and not worry too much about ruffling any feathers, and besides, if you heard what I think you did, then I've got a bit of explaining to do," she says before stepping back to wait for my answer.

"Sound's like a plan," I say knowing she doesn't want this conversation to get out.

She disappears as quickly as she appeared and I'm left to get on with my work.

Saturday Night soon rolls round and I'm meeting Hodges and Ray, in a pub just off the patch along with John.

We spot them as soon as we enter the building and head over towards them, sitting down in the seats opposite them.

Hodges gets the first round of drinks in whilst we all settle down. Whilst he is gone we are joined by the famous Commander Patrick Ford.

"Hey stranger, where have you been hiding?" Marion Ray questions, giving him an awkward looking hug.

"The same place I always am, my office, bogged down with paperwork, so what have you been up to, or do I even want to know?"

"Nothing major, work, home, eat, sleep then back to work, you get the picture?"

"What happened to the fun loving, rule breaking woman I used to know?" he questions, with a slight sarcastic tone, tilting his head to the side to get a different picture.

"That was years ago Ricky, I've grown up since then, and I still know how to have fun."

"Yeah, usually at my expense," says Hodges returning to the table with our drinks, "I got your usual mate, I hope that's ok."

"Of course, So, what's the latest?" Ford asks, "and who have you bought along this time?" he adds, gesturing to me and John.

Hodges introduces us all, before saying anything else; "You still got that yellow sock?" he asks.

"Yeah, what was the big idea of dyeing my sock bright yellow anyway?"

"Revenge of course," DCI Ray smirks at him, "I told you I'd get my own back on you over that little incident beforehand, that I've been sworn not to mention."

"Oh, come on, It's not like you didn't get it back, if you was so worried about it, you shouldn't have left it lying around."

"I didn't leave it lying around."

"No, you ended up waking me up instead, to get it back for you," interrupts Hodges.

"I'm surprised you didn't kill her for that," comments Ford.

"Believe me I was tempted to."

"What did you have to recover?" I ask, not understating what they're on about, "or better yet, when was this?"

"My hotel room door key," explains DCI Ray, "We were all on a case out of town about 7 years ago when Fordo here decided to steal my key, whilst I was in the swimming pool. I had to walk halfway round the hotel in my dripping wet swimming costume, just to get it back."

"Yeah, but instead you gave up and came after mine instead. The next time you barge in on someone, knock first, you nearly gave me a heart attack" adds Hodges.

"Yellow socks? I like it," I say.

"Yeah, almost as good as the dinosaur in Crystal Park, south of the river," John adds, referring to our own hotel problem.

"So, what did you do to get back at her Ste?" Ford asks Hodges.

"I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you, and besides, that's something your better off not knowing," he replies, throwing a lingering gaze to DCI Ray, who struggles to hide her blush.

"Like that then is it? Did anyone find out about it?"

"Do you think we'd be sitting here now if they did Rick? I mean use a bit of common, if we so much as thought of anything like that these days, we'd be on a six month suspension at best," Hodges says.

"A ah, so you admit to it then? I knew you guys were hiding something, so how long did it last?"

"Again I am unable to comment without getting us all into serious trouble," says Hodges putting an end to the conversation.

"Six months," whispers DCI Ray, obviously knowing it was the only way to end the conversation.

"Wow that long huh, I never suspected that, I mean up until the end of the case sure, but, you took a really big risk there."

"Don't I know it," she mumbles.

"Besides, you're one to talk, if any of the new recruits so much as heard what you used to do, they'd never follow any of the rules," Hodges says backing her up.

"Now that was uncalled for, I was only trying to make a point. Are you sure it was only six months? The way you're acting I'm beginning to wonder here and I don't think I'm the only one."

"Fine, you want the full story, I'll tell you," says DCI Ray with anger lacing her tone, "That six months was just the beginning, Every similar out of town case since, we've been at it like rabbits, Do you want details?"

"Mar don't," Hodges cuts in.

DCI Ray slumps back into her seat defeated. Hodges, glowers at him, in annoyance, "You happy now?"

"Not really, I only wanted to know if my suspicions were right, I didn't intend to cause a fight."

They all take large sips of their drinks in a bid to break the tension.

"Can I ask you something?" Ford breaks through the silence, "If there were no rules about it or anything would you …?"

"What is this, Truth or Dare?" asks Hodges irritably.

"If you want, so…?"

"Possibly," he answers with a hint of mystery.

"In that case, I dare you to kiss her, right here, right now."

"Are you crazy? That's just asking for trouble,"

"Ste, Ste, Ste, where's your sense of adventure gone?"

"Alright," Hodges whispers with a discreet glance at Ray to make sure she's in agreement.

He turns to face her, running his hands gently up the side of her face, giving her plenty of time to pull away if she's uncomfortable with this. She doesn't pull away and her lips meet his in a searing kiss. They gradually deepen it, temporarily forgetting where they are.

We all watch transfixed for a few seconds, before deciding to snap them out of it before it goes too far.

"Alright," Chimes Ford, "I only wanted to prove a point,"

"What point exactly?" asks Hodges when he's regained his normal breathing rate.

"That there's still a spark there, whether you admit it or not, and no matter how much you fight it, nothing will change that."

"Well of course not when you come up with stupid idea's like that."

Out of the corner of my eye I notice DCI Ray, struggling to hide her emotions. Taking matters into my own hands, I proclaim a toilet break. Picking up on what I'm doing, she follows my lead, joining me in the ladies toilets a few minutes later.

"Thanks for that," she says to me.

"No problem."

"Why did you do that? Why did you get me out of there like that?"

"I know what it's like being caught in an awkward situation like that," I say, "and I could see that you needed a break. It was the best I could come up with on the spot."

"I owe you one," she says, washing her face under the faucet to cool her emotions.

"That really affected you didn't it?" I ask hoping I'm not overstepping the mark.

"I haven't felt like that in years," she confesses, "I mean sure we muck about sometimes, but it's all in good fun ya know, there's never anything serious about it, not like tonight, I don't know what happened back there, it's like someone's flicked a switch or something."

"Hey don't worry about it, we've all been through it before, its just hormones, you'll have probably forgotten all about it by next week."

"I hope so, but I highly doubt it," she explains, "the last time something like that happened, we couldn't stay away from each other for months. That's why I took up the case in Manchester; I needed to get away for a bit to clear my head. I thought that things would go back to normal once I returned, but now it's worse than ever, and I don't know how to deal with it."

"Maybe it's a sign, I know there's rules and everything, but maybe it's trying to tell you something, I won't say anything if you don't, if that's what you're worried about, but it may be worth thinking about; and if anyone does say anything, blame it on the alcohol."

"I'll have to think about that."

We return back the table to find the others laughing over a joke.

"You ok Mar?" Hodges asks, noticing her pale face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she reassures him, sipping from her drink.

We settle back into an easy going, laid back conversation, ranging from the recent weather to more controversial events. By closing time we are all very tired and drunk.

On the walk home, I think over the events of the past week or so and how quickly thinks have changed. In less than a week it seems I've revealed my biggest secret to John, found enough evidence to trap Beech, learned enough about my boss to get along with him on non work related matters and made some new friends. Then to top it all off, I'm not busy hiding everything from everybody, probably down to avoiding Sun Hill, and my relationship with John has improved slightly.

I'm still surprised at how well he's taking the information that I'm CIB and his best friend is bent. He even seems to be getting along with the CIB officers in my department, something nobody could have foreseen. It's like he's a totally different person, from who he was last week, and yet, I like it. Not having to hide things from him makes my life much easier, and it seems to have had a positive impact on our relationship too. I mean, we've still gotta be careful, it is against regulations after all, and if anyone from Sun Hill, finds out I'm CIB, and about how close we are, it could put us both at risk. There's no doubt in my mind that they're gonna be pissed at CIB's disruption to their lives, but it had to be done. I just hope that I'm not putting John too much at risk with all of this.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Sun Hill CID**

It's now a Monday morning, the first week back after our meeting in the pub last Saturday, and I'm now sitting in my temporary office in the CIB building. Considering I'm running this case now, Hodges thought it would be beneficial to give me my own office, and I'm certainly not complaining. Just as I'm pouring over some of the case details, John softly knocks, and then enters the room, dropping a much smaller folder onto the desk in front of me.

"We need to speak to this bloke," he states, pointing to a bald headed man in the photograph that's clipped to the file.

"Why?" I ask, not sure what he's on to here.

"Whitehouse has just noticed that he's got a connection to Sun Hill, and I'm not talking about Beech."

"I'm not sure I'm following here," I state, still not understanding where he's going with this.

"This bloke, Jack Owen, is a registered snout of Kerry Holmes, he's also got ties to both Beech and Garrard, and I think we need to speak to both him and Kerry, I've got a really bad feeling about this."

"Ok, I think I see what you're getting at, but it's probably nothing. Let's talk to Kerry first though; she may be more co operative than this Owen character."

"Fair enough," John replies, heading for his coat.

We make our way out to the car park in silence, both considering the best way to do this.

"I think we should get her to meet us in a café or something, it will be less formal, and won't spook her so much, I don't know how much Hodges has said to Sun Hill yet so it may be best if you take a back seat in this one."

"Fair enough, you're the expert here, I'm new to all this CIB stuff so…"

We arrange to meet Kerry in a secluded café just outside of the main patch. She arrives shortly after us and we all settle into a corner table, as far away from other people as we can get to minimise the risk of someone overhearing.

"What's going on guys, and where have you been for the past few weeks, nobodies heard from you since CIB suspended us all?" Kerry says, as inquisitive as I remember.

"We need some information for an important case, and as for where we've been, CIB cornered us earlier that morning, and kept us around for a bit whilst they finished off their enquiries."

"Ok, but, have you done something wrong? Are CIB after you for something?"

"No, they just needed us to answer a few questions, and fill in some of the blanks, look, I shouldn't even be telling you any of this; can we just get this over with?" I say, attempting to get the conversation back on track.

"You've got a snout by the name of Jack Owen haven't you?" I ask my opening question.

"Yes," she nods, "what about him?"

"We need to know what you know about him, anything you can tell us about him, I know it's classified information, but I'm sure you'd much rather be having this conversation with us than CIB," I say, using my old CIB interrogation tactics on her.

"I don't know what to say, I arrested him a few years back for a drug offence, and DS Beech convinced me to offer him a deal, to see if he would ship his suppliers, it worked, so…"

I shoot a look at John to see if he's thinking the same thing I am. Could Beech have tried to get Kerry involved with his dodgy dealings?

"Whose idea was the terms of the deal? Was it yours?"

"No, I barely had anything to do with it; Beech set it all up and I just went along with it. I don't even know the terms of the deal."

"Shit," I mutter.

I was afraid something like this would happen. If Kerry's been influenced by Beech, does that make her a suspect? I hope not. She's got a lot of potential and could become a really good officer with the right guidance. Why does Beech have to mess everything up for everybody?

I ask a few more questions to try to establish how deeply involved she is with this. Once I've got the information I need, I have to inform her that she must not mention this conversation to anyone.

"Why not serge, what's going on?"

Can I tell her that she's just unwittingly got herself dragged into another CIB investigation? Does anyone at Sun Hill know that it's Beech that's behind CIB's interest in them? That me and John are working with them, or in my case for them to make sure anyone who's found to be corrupt, gets the proper punishment.

"I can't really say anything right now, it's complicated, but it may have something to do with CIB's recent interest in Sun Hill," I tell her, knowing she's gonna be trying to figure this out all day.

With a few parting comments we go our separate ways, Kerry to Sun Hill and me and John to the CIB office.

Later that same day, I spot DCI Ray coming out of the toilets looking a little worse for wear. "Are you ok?" I ask, not knowing what's wrong.

"Not really," she says, before looking at me carefully and then saying, "Claire, can I talk to you about something? Not now, after work, maybe we can meet up somewhere. I don't know who else to talk to and after the other night …"

"Sure," I answer, more than a little curious, and slightly concerned, "If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know."

"I will, it's just … this isn't the time or place for this."

We set up a time and place to meet up later then continue back to our respective departments to return to our work.

After our meeting with Kerry earlier in the day, we've discovered we've got a few new angles to investigate, and will probably be returning to Sun Hill sooner than we thought. That is not a necessarily a good thing in this case. If we go into Sun Hill again people will find out I'm working for CIB, and at least one of us needs to keep up a good rapport with them. I don't want to tarnish John's relationship with them; he's been working there for a long time. No, this is something I've got to do on my own. Well, without John getting involved at the very least.

I make my way into the department nine main office area to find DS Whitehouse. He's a good officer, but lacking leadership abilities, which in this case will be particularly useful. I know I'm gonna have to explain this decision to John later, and he's not gonna be too happy about it, but there is no way I can put him in so much danger.

"Gary," I say upon nearing Whitehouse's desk, "Do you think you can spare a couple of hours this afternoon to come re-interview Sun Hill with me? Some new information has come to light."

"Sure serge," he says getting up.

I make sure I've given John some other angle to look into, before we leave.

Later that afternoon I walk into Sun Hill and easily bypass the front desk without too many questions, I lead the way up to CID, making sure that Whitehouse knows I'm calling the shots here. He may follow Ray round like a lost puppy, but I don't work that way.

The minute I walk through the main door the questions begin. I instantly put up my hand in a stop gesture to silence them. "This isn't a social visit," I explain, before indicating to Duncan and Kerry that I need to speak to them in private.

This is a new technique I'm trying here, interviewing two potential suspects at the same time, and I'm hoping it will work out ok.

We make our way to an empty interview room, preferring to stay in the building. Once we're all seated I begin. "I know your both really confused about what this is all about so I'll cut to the chase here," I begin, waiting for them to catch up, "I don't know what CIB said to you when you we're interviewed the other week, or how much you know, so I guess we'll start there."

"Nobodies really told us anything," Duncan explains, "They just came in, suspended us, asked us lots of questions, several about DS Beech, I don't know why though, then returned a few days later and reinstated us all. No one's said anything since."

"Ok, I'll clear up a little of the mystery for you. CIB have been investigating Beech for a long time, they got some solid information last week and arrested him," I say being as vague as I can in my explanations, "General procedure states that anyone who knew him, or came into contact with him on a daily basis needs to be questioned. That's why you were all suspended. You we're questioned to determine what, if anything, you know about his activities, then were reinstated when they were certain that you're in the clear. Which brings us to today; some new information has come to light, so everyone needs to be re-interviewed."

"What about you and John Boulton though serge? No one has seen or heard from you since last week."

"We've both been kept around for a while whilst they finish their enquiries. As I said some new information has come to light, and both of us being quite close to Beech, they need to look into the matter deeper. So anyway, I know I spoke to you this morning Kerry and this relates to that. I believe Duncan here was working with you on the Owen case? Is that true?"

"Yes serge."

"Did he know about the deal that was made with the suspect?"

"No, I don't think so. Like I said earlier, Beech was running the case, we we're just helping out. Are we in trouble for something?"

"At the moment, no; we just need to look closer at some of the cases Beech worked on to find out how he managed to manipulate people. At the moment the most we've got on you is being twisted up into his little schemes by your own naivety, no one can fault you for that, it will improve as you gain more experience on the job, but unfortunately, you still need to be questioned and investigated," I reassure her, easily slipping back into my old CIB ways; 18 months of undercover work hasn't done much to change me.

A knock sounds on the door and Whitehouse, nods in my direction, "Guv," he says alerting me to the intrusion.

I look to the door as it opens, and see DI Deakin standing on the other side of it. "What's going on?" he asks confused.

"I'll handle this," I say to Gary, before heading into the corridor to talk to the DI, closing the door firmly behind me.

"I though CIB had finished with Sun Hill?" he asks me.

"Not entirely," I explain, "Everyone's in the clear, but there are still a few avenues that need to be investigated. That what you just saw was an information gathering exercise; it's not really related to last week's events."

"So, what are CIB doing here then? Or better still, what are you doing?"

"I've been recently investigating a case that has been found to be linked to a case CIB are working on; the easiest way to avoid complications is to work with them on this one. Like I said though, you're all in the clear; I was just looking for information on a suspect."

"I'm not sure I like this."

"You don't really get a say in it. Neither do I, the only way they would let me stay on the case is to help them, so that's what I'm doing," I lie, not wanting to reveal who I am just yet, encase I need to return in the future; "Now if you haven't got anymore questions…"

With that said I return to the interview room to complete the interview.

Later that night I am sitting in a local bar with, DCI Marion Ray as we agreed to do earlier in the day. We are each settled down in a corner seat with a drink.

"What's all this about?" I ask, "What did you want to talk to me about that you can't discuss at work?"

"It's about this morning; you saw how sick I was. Well I know why, but it's not what I expected and I don't know how to deal with it," she explains.

I silently ask her to continue.

"I'm pregnant," she exclaims.

"Okkkkkkk," I let the word drag out, not sure how else to respond.

"I don't know what to do, it wasn't planned and I'm not sure I can tell anyone else."

"What do you mean?" I ask confused.

"You remember what we were discussing in the toilets the other night?" she asks me, "Well there are some things I didn't tell you. Since I returned from Manchester, we've been closer than ever. I know that you've suspected a few things, but that's not even the half of it. Nobody else knows about this but Stephen came and visited me up in Manchester every couple of months; to see how things we're going and everything. Anyway, without going in to details, it wasn't a work thing."

"I think I get you, but it's been over 18 months since you came back so, I don't see what that has to do with now, unless …" I stop at that, realisation dawning on me; "It's his isn't it?" I ask.

"Yes," she nods, "no doubt about it."

"Does he know?" I ask, almost desperate for details.

"No, not yet, I want to tell him, but I'm not sure how to go about it, then there are rules and regulations and whatever to think about; God, what a mess!"

"You can't change the past," I explain, "I know it's not easy, but surely someone will understand. What's the worst they can do?"

"I guess, but how am I gonna handle this? Our job's risky enough as it is."

"Stop panicking, I dare say they'll put you on office bound work or something, but you really need to tell him you know. I know he's not exactly the best person to get along with most of the time, but I do know he's loyal. He'll understand, and he'll help you."

"Thanks Claire, I really needed this. I don't know where you're getting all this stuff from, but it's what I need to hear right now."

"I may never have been in a situation like your in now, but the thought has crossed my mind before now, what would happen if I was put in a similar situation or something? Most of what I'm telling you comes from what I'd do. I guess that sometimes you just need to hear it from someone else."

We take a few minutes for the information to sink in, sipping at our drinks lost in thought. Who ever would have thought it? Two senior officers, up to no good out of hours; Hodges was the last person I'd ever imagine in such a situation. It just doesn't fit what I know about him from over five years of working with him, but on saying that, after the other night, it does seem he's got a few secrets, and his rank must work in his favour for hiding things. He sets the tasks, not having to follow pre-set orders. Maybe that's what I've been missing all these years, why he's always seemed so arrogant and uncaring. It's all an act to cover much deeper thoughts and feelings. I've always respected him sure, but I always thought he could be really arrogant at times, treading on people to get his own way. I'm only now seeing below the surface, through the walls he's built up, to the real man that he is. This Beech case has been a real eye opener for me and a big learning curve.

"You won't tell anyone will you?" DCI Ray asks me, breaking through my thoughts.

"Of course not," I reassure her, "it's your business, it's up to you how you handle it, I can give you my opinions but ultimately it's down to you. Besides, what good would that do?"

"I don't really know, I'm just so confused right now, I don't want to have to worry about other people finding out."

"The only way anyone's gonna find out that I can see is if you tell them directly, they overhear you discussing the matter or you do something totally crazy like kissing him in the middle of the office. I mean your not gonna be able to keep it quiet forever, but I dare say you've got a few weeks at least before anyone will start to notice. Do you know how far along you are?"

"About seven weeks the doctor said yesterday," she reveals.

"It's still early days then?"

"Yeah."

"My advice to you then is to arrange a meeting outside of work, preferably in a relaxed atmosphere, where you can discuss it without anyone else overhearing. See what he has to say about it, but don't push too hard; keep your options open if you know what I mean. If you want to discuss anything after or anything, just give me a ring."

"Will do, thanks Claire, you know, he's right about you, you are one of a kind. No one else I know would be this understanding in such a difficult situation; I really owe you for all this."

"Don't worry about it. I'd do the same for anyone else. I try to look at things from several view points, you get a better understanding of things then."

We bring our conversation to an end and both go our separate ways. Within the hour I'm back at John's flat, curled up in his arms.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes:**

Well this story is finally beginning to take shape. Still got a lot more chapters to look forward to, when I get time to write them that is. Don't forget to read and review.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Out in the Open. **

I wake up with John's arms wrapped around me, his face buried in my hair, placing small butterfly kisses to my head. I automatically roll onto my side to face him, giving him a loving kiss as I do so.

"Where did you go last night?" he asks me.

"I promised DCI Ray that I'd meet up with her, she'd said earlier on that she wanted to talk to me about something so we arranged to meet," I explain.

"Was it about the case?"

"No, it was a personal matter that she just wanted some advice on. Talking about the case, I went to Sun Hill yesterday to have another word with Kerry."

"Did she give you anything useful? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Nothing that we don't already know, I would've told you but you were out interviewing Owen. Did he say anything interesting by the way?"

"Nothing, either someone got to him or he doesn't know anything, personally I favour the later."

"Erm, well we'll see, I was thinking of pulling in Tasker and Garrard for questioning later today. I think we may be able to trick them into saying something to incriminate themselves."

We think about this for a few minutes, luxuriating in the comfort of each other's arms. I'm actually quite surprised that Hodges hasn't pulled us up over it yet, but I guess he's got enough problems of his own to worry about. I just can't picture him with a child; it doesn't fit his image at all.

We get up 10 minutes later when the alarm sounds for the third time this morning, knowing we're both gonna be late if we don't get a move on.

* * *

An hour later we're back at the CIB office. I've left John going through the details whilst I find Hodges to bring him up to speed with the latest developments. Standing just outside his office, I hear voices inside. He's either on the telephone or talking to someone. I wait until there is a break in the conversation before gently tapping on the door.

"Come in," Hodges calls.

I walk slowly into the room, making a mental note of the information I need to share. Upon entering the room, I spot DCI Ray sitting on the sofa.

"I'll see you later Ste," she says, getting up when she spots me by the door.

"Don't leave on my account," I say, "I just came to bring you up to speed."

She remains in the room whilst I explain what we've found out and what I plan to do next. We all discuss the probable outcomes that we may come across by following my planned course of action, before Hodges gives me the go ahead for the operation I've planned with a few amendments from him and Ray. Once we're all settled on a firm plan, and I've managed to convince him to let me use the extra resources it will require, we all go our separate ways.

"We're gonna discuss things tonight," DCI Ray whispers to me just outside the office door knowing I'll understand what she's talking about.

"That's good, and like I said before, if you need anyone to talk to, I'm just a phone call away."

She thanks me for my help before returning to her office.

* * *

A couple of hours later, I've just finished rounding up all the various resources, and collaborated the evidence and I'm now walking down the corridor to the coffee machine to get a well earned drink.

"What ya doin?" John whispers in my ear, having snuck up beside me.

He wraps an arm around my waist and plants a small kiss just below my earlobe.

"What are you doing?" I hiss, "are you trying to get us into trouble?"

He stands up straight at my comment but does not remove his arm from around my waist. "I just wanted to surprise you," he states.

I turn to face him before explaining, "I figured that, but you've gotta remember where we are here; they're trained investigators and aren't gonna miss something like that. I know we'd probably get away with that and a lot more at Sun Hill, but it's still against rules so we've gotta be careful. I don't want to get into trouble just because we get a little careless if you know what I mean."

"What do you mean?" Hodges asks sneaking up behind us, and causing me to jump up into the air in shock.

"For God sake, you nearly gave me a bloody heart attack," I say, whizzing round to view the source of the interruption.

Hodges, with Ray standing beside him both turn to near fits of giggles, most likely at the shocked looks on mine and John's faces.

"Oh, that's priceless," comments DCI Ray, "I wish I had a camera so you could see the looks on your faces right now."

I struggle to return a neutral expression, desperately trying to think of a way out of this situation.

"I guess that will teach you to be careful what you say around the office, if I didn't know any different, I would say your doing something you shouldn't be," Hodges says with a slight wink that I nearly don't catch.

He knows and he's not gonna say anything, I note from his expression. "Just keep it out of the office ok," he adds once we've all calmed down and he's sure no one else is around to overhear.

"Sure," I state returning to my task of getting coffee, we're safe for now.

* * *

It's several hours after our operation to bring in Tasker and Garrard and they are currently sitting in interrogation waiting to be interviewed. The operation went down without a hitch and I'm now just waiting for the relevant paperwork before questioning them.

"Go home Claire," states Hodges coming into the room and breaking me from my thoughts.

"Gov?" I question, unsure of his intentions.

"I said go home and get some sleep, it's been a long and stressful couple of weeks and your exhausted. I'll handle the interrogation and fill you in on the details tomorrow."

Why is he doing this? He'd never think of letting anyone home early at any other time, so why this? Why now? I sit up straight in my chair the silent questions shining in my eyes.

"Just go Claire, and take Boulton with you. He's practically dead on his feet, and I'm concerned about how he's handling all this. I don't suppose he's said anything to you has he?"

"No Gov, what do you mean?"

"I mean," states Hodges preparing to elaborate, "Considering all that's happened in the past couple of weeks he's handling it well; a little too well if you ask me, and I'm concerned that he's in shock and not dealing with it in the right way."

"That's just him Gov, he's not known for getting emotional over things."

"I know that much Claire, I have read his file, but even so, I'm worried where this is going and I think it would be a good idea to get him talking. If he's bottling things up like I think he is, then it's not gonna be pretty when the bottle breaks so to speak."

"I think I get what you mean, don't worry about it, I'll talk to him, I doubt I'll get much out of him, he's worse than you at times, but I'll give it a shot."

With that said he leaves the office, I get up and grab my coat before going in search of John.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** That's all I've written so far so expect a long wait for the next chapter. I'm also busy planning lots of other stories so this may be put on the backburner for a while, but i'll try to update as soon as possible. I'm hoping to finish this by the end of the year but I strongly doubt I'll get there at the rate i'm going.

Shalom! 


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